


star pieces

by wintercrystale



Series: stone reset, stars rewritten [2]
Category: NU'EST, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 14:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17408294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercrystale/pseuds/wintercrystale
Summary: Maybe Minhyun believed that Jonghyun was his counterpart and a piece of himself left when Jonghyun did. So, he waited for Jonghyun to come back.





	star pieces

**Author's Note:**

> just saying, though. this is less of a science fiction and more of a different reality? something like that
> 
> also kyulkyung and jaehwan are minor characters. there are some others, but the only important ones are 2hyun LOL
> 
> i have classes in about twelve hours from now and i really decided to try and finish this dusty fic residing in my draft. this is pretty much just a 12k words worth of word vomit i aM SOOOOO SORRY. 2hyun deserved better;;

Another day passed, another part of the parchment scratched by a thin layer of ink. A sigh escaped the lips of a tall man whose hand was holding a quill. It had become a daily routine of his to keep count of the days passing in the form of a tally on wall-hung parchment paper. Other people would probably use normal calendar, but he wanted to know the exact number of days coming and going. Other people would probably do it in the morning after night had passed, but he counted when the clock stroke six twenty three on the evening. There was a reason behind it, of course. A reason people would probably soon know or never know at all.

 

He stared at the ink tainted paper with utmost hatred, as if it had killed the person he loved most in the whole multiverse. Maybe it did, but there's a hope that it didn't. He would probably soon know or never know at all.

 

The only person in the room turned his head a bit to let the main object of his vision change to a photo frame. Inside, there were two guys laughing together with the taller one leaning against the shorter's shoulder.

 

_'It's been one hundred and fifty years, huh, Jonghyun?'_

 

He really did count. Hwang Minhyun really did count and it had been _exactly_ one hundred and fifty years. People would think that anyone would give up having to wait that long for something so uncertain. But Hwang Minhyun had his tough heart set on it and he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

 

Sanity wasn't something Minhyun had to worry about since Minki always dragged him out to take a breather in the weekends, Dongho was always there to lend his shoulders, and Aron just always came to his house whenever the older wanted to. He had enough moral support to go through his days until just a bit more or maybe forever.

 

The clock on the wall kept ticking without Minhyun bothering to hear. Sometimes he wondered if the clock ever felt sad because people only ever checked it when they're bored or in a hard situation and when they were happy, they always forgot the lonely clock hanging on the wall. Minhyun always looked at the clock whenever he had the chance, he wished that the clock could be happier due to that. At least he could make a small change. (He actually needed to question his sanity.)

 

A clink of metal against metal resonated throughout the whole household when Minhyun took his keys that had just been idly hanging near the door. He had to go out of the house, there's another routine he had to go through. A pair of shoes worn in an unhurried manner, a few footsteps heard on the creaking floorboard, a sound of door closed and locked behind. Out Minhyun went with nothing else beside a wallet in his pocket and a steady heart beating for only one person.

 

Something was odd in his little lawn, Minhyun's peripheral noticed. When he turned to give the oddity his full attention, he hummed. The lamppost's light flickered in a pathetic attempt to stay alive. It reminded Minhyun of his almost shattered resolve that one time. He didn't know if he was lucky or unlucky that his heart stayed unbothered about waiting.

 

"I need to get more stardust," Minhyun mumbled softly before turning his attention back to the path ahead of him. He took a right turn when reaching the streets.

 

A hundred and fifty one years ago it used to be him walking with Jonghyun on the sidewalk. Minhyun would always let Jonghyun walk on the inner path while he himself on the outer part closer to the road. He always wanted to protect his precious friend from any kind of danger. Even until now Minhyun still walked on the outer part of the sidewalk. He guessed habits die hard but his heart argued that he wanted to imagine Jonghyun was there, had always been there for Minhyun even in his absence.

 

The left pocket of Minhyun's coat was occupied by his hand seeking warmth since it was mid-autumn. His right hand, however, was left hanging on his right side. It used to seek warmth from another source—namely Jonghyun's small hand—and it refused to replace it with something simpler like the right coat pocket. His heart thought it was stupidly petty, but his mind knew that he needed small reminders that he wanted Jonghyun back, sooner better than never.

 

It was as if his feet had a set route for the place he's headed to. Because when his mind drifted off and went subconscious, his feet still walked the supposed path. There he was a few minutes later, arriving in front of a pair of glass double doors with wooden frames leading to a medium-sized café with a sign that read Wanna One. When Minhyun reached out to open the door inward, a sound of bell travelled across the air to notify everyone in the café about a new existence entering. The bell almost always made Minhyun self-conscious since some of the people would turn to look whenever they heard it, the tall male would feel the urge to smile and bow a little.

 

"Hwang Minhyun! Welcome back to our humble little café! I didn't realize it's Friday already."

 

The newcomer of the café turned his head to the counter, finding someone called Kim Jaehwan manning the register. The café seemed empty for a Friday night, Minhyun noticed. At least Jaehwan's presence made up about fifty percent of the lively atmosphere.

 

Next to Jaehwan, there's the new recruit Bae Jinyoung throwing a glance at Minhyun, only to let his gaze wander back to the flooring. He's a really shy person despite the attractive face that could catch anyone's attention upon seeing him for the first time. Minhyun made a mental note to get to know this guy a little better and make him more confident. That's the least he could do while waiting for the uncertain.

 

"Oh, it's our resident singer again."

 

A head popped up from the door behind Jaehwan. Minhyun immediately recognized the face to be Yoon Jisung, the one in charge of making food most of the time. He's always fond of the older guy for being able to handle any situation with ease. Several times he'd found himself having an existential crisis or a mental breakdown in the café and Jisung was always the one getting him back on his feet. Respect was a must towards Jisung and payback would be necessary since Minhyun was a decent human being.

 

Minhyun's shoes-clad feet brought him nearer to the register, where he crossed his arms above the wooden counter. Jaehwan looked at him intently with a smile.

 

"The microphone and stage are over there, sir," Jaehwan said in a manner of his Minhyun could never take seriously.

 

"Technically, it's not my time to perform yet." Minhyun pointed out with a head-tilt towards the clock hanging on the wall.

 

"Fifteen minutes, would you like something to drink before going up? Jinyoung can whip up something pretty quickly. Coffee, maybe?"

 

Minhyun clucked his tongue and let his eyes wander to Jinyoung before going back to Jaehwan. "You know I don't drink coffee, just give me hot water."

 

This statement had Jaehwan raising an eyebrow, because Minhyun had definitely been drinking coffee ever since Jonghyun left. Minhyun gave him a look that said _'what?'_ and Jaehwan shrugged because it wasn't even important. He wanted to pity the older for blindly waiting, especially since the latter had always been someone too realistic for this world. It wasn't even because Minhyun was obligated to wait, Jaehwan knew that Jonghyun gave him a choice. But maybe Minhyun believed that Jonghyun was his counterpart and a piece of himself left when Jonghyun did. He was never meant to be whole as himself. The two had each other's missing pieces in themselves, Jaehwan envied them for that. He didn't know, though, if it was tragic or beautiful. Love had always been a beautifully tragic existing nonexistence in Minhyun's dictionary. Sometimes Minhyun found himself drowning in self-hatred for falling in love, but whenever he thought of Jonghyun,—his sweet, little Jonghyun—his heart just wanted to give itself up for Jonghyun to let him do anything with it. Absolutely anything. He wouldn't mind even if Jonghyun tear it into pieces, crush it under his feet, and throw it away. Minhyun was sure he could still love Jonghyun even without a functional heart. Irrational seemed to be a more than decent word to describe Minhyun these days.

 

When Jinyoung looked to see that he's out of hot water, he was quick to get more from the kitchen. Jisung gladly helped him switch the empty container with a new one accompanied by a soft "Can you carry this yourself?" to which Jinyoung nodded. He went back to his designated place with the container in his arms after getting a pat on the head by Jisung. A mug was soon filled with water from the container.

 

"Here, hyung." Jinyoung put the mug on the register counter instead of the pick up counter since Minhyun was there anyway.

 

Minhyun threw a small smile at the cute guy that he believed was fifty years younger and muttered, "Thank you, Jinyoung."

 

Subtly nodding his head, Jinyoung went back to whatever he was doing before—which was reading and trying to memorize the steps to making different types of coffees.

 

As much as Minhyun liked Jaehwan's company, he wanted some peace for himself. Hence why he bid goodbye to Jaehwan, took the mug with him, and walked a few metres to sit beside the big glass window. He wanted to catch today's daybreak since Friday's daybreaks were anomalies. Normally, daybreak would happen at random times everyday. Sometimes they happened after twelve at night, which made it either way too early in the morning or way too late into the evening. Sometimes they happened at noon, making it unable to be seen since the sky would be too bright for any stars to be visible. Yet, every Friday it always happened at seven in the evening.

 

The clock showed six fifty nine when Minhyun glanced upon it to make sure. A small smile graced Minhyun's lips for a few milliseconds before fading back out. He turned back to look outside the window of the café, specifically at the darkening sky. His fingers were tapping at the wooden table in anticipation. The child inside of him felt giddy about seeing the thing that seemed normal to any other person. Since it's a daily occurrence like the sun rising and setting, nobody really paid attention to it. Moreover, it happened at random times so people didn't bother to wait for it. Minhyun was different. Minhyun had always been different.

 

_"You’re weird."_

_"I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just throw an insult to my face."_

_"It’s a form of endearment."_

_"Well aren’t you the weird one."_

 

His breath hitched and his mind registered it to be seven in the evening when the stars in the sky started moving. If you looked at it, it seemed like there were some kind of invisible force pulling them in their own designated tracks. Some looked like they crossed path, some moved together, some just stayed where they were. For a few moments, the stars twinkled as if sending some kind of morse codes to each other. Minhyun would like to imagine them exchanging laughters at a cheap joke thrown by the brightest star while travelling to God-knows-where.

 

At his early age of education, Minhyun received the same information as every other kids did. It was on the subject of astronomy, he remembered. Chapter four, page eighty six, about the sun and the stars. Every other kids got sleepy when told about it, but Minhyun listened to everything attentively. The stars were some kind of gases burning themselves to death trying to light up the whole universe (Minhyun smiled bitterly because they reminded him so much of Jonghyun). It was pretty much their whole purpose of existence. Some stars were larger than the others. Most of the stars were smaller than the sun, but many were bigger too.

 

The sun at first felt really lonely, it didn't feel like it belonged anywhere. It was too big to be a normal star, but too small to be a part of the giants. It realised that even with so many stars in the sky, they could never light up the whole universe. The sun lost its purpose for a while. That was before it made itself a solar system, giving birth to thousands of lives on planet earth. Even if it couldn't light up the universe, maybe it could give light to some planets. The smaller stars saw what the sun did and they thought of it as their leader. The one favor the stars asked of the sun was "Oh Mother Sol, if we ever go astray, please pull us back to our supposed place!"

 

That's what a daybreak was. It was when the sun pulled the stars back into place when they had wandered too far. Sometimes Minhyun felt like pulling Jonghyun back too. The older had wandered too far for too long.

 

"Stupid war." Minhyun smiled bitterly.

 

Sometimes Minhyun wondered if he had lost Jonghyun to the Intergalactical War. But a tug at his heartstrings told him that Jonghyun's fine somewhere out there. It was just a hunch, but Minhyun knew that his heart was always right.

 

"Goddamnit news channel, when will you ever tell me the truth!"

 

Minhyun turned his head at Jaehwan's rare frustrated voice. He found the younger out of his apron and staring (more like glaring daggers) at the television on one of the pillars. The taller looked at the other curiously, then at whatever was showing on the screen.

 

Oh, Minhyun thought.

 

Yes, the news had been telling everyone that the war had ended since about a week ago. The international military base claimed to have gotten a message from the leader of the Alcentides—the opposition race's name—that they have settled everything down in a diplomatic way (Minhyun found it stupid that they couldn't have done it a hundred years ago). Any war prisoner would be released and sent home soon, that was what the leader stated. Minhyun knew that some had indeed landed back safely on earth, but Jaehwan must be upset about Jonghyun too.

 

Jonghyun's not back (yet, hopefully) and everyone had to deal with it.

 

Minhyun wanted to open his lips and throw a small consolation of "He'll be back soon enough." but he didn't know how much longer he could still believe it. So instead, he stood up and walked back to Jaehwan.

 

"Stop watching the news, will you? Switch to Spongebob or something," Minhyun stated in his ever so serious face.

 

Jaehwan redirected his glare at Minhyun, wanting to ask the taller to "Please talk seriously with me, I'm not exactly in the mood to mess around." before realising that Minhyun was serious as fuck. So instead, Jaehwan just shrugged and changed the channel to a test screen. The older tsked because seriously? A test screen?

 

"Sing with me," Minhyun offered.

 

"I don't think people would want to hear me sing like a constipated duck because I'm trying to suppress my anger." Jaehwan shook his head before smiling bitterly.

 

Minhyun really could never take Jaehwan seriously.

 

"I'll be at the stage then if you're looking for me," the taller informed before walking and going up the small stage of the café, hearing a soft hum coming from Jaehwan in the process.

 

At this point Minhyun didn't need anyone to help him set up the stage. He used to get help from Sungwoon (another employee in the café) when he only started his career as the café's singer.

 

 _"You'll like it there, I promise."_ was Jonghyun's sentence that convinced Minhyun to make use of his talent.

 

He's the resident singer now. Had been, anyways, since one hundred and seventy two years ago.

 

Setting the stage wasn't exactly a hard feat. "Just turn on things here and there, put the mic in the front part of the stage, and done." was how Minhyun put it.

 

_"Why doesn't this stage have a decent lighting?"_

 

_"You shine just enough to attract attention._

 

_"—Oh, and also, Jaehwan heard you and he's probably hurt."_

 

Minhyun let his slender finger tap on the microphone for testing. When the speaker behind him produced a sound, he did a second checking with his voice. Some heads turned to the stage with curiosity upon hearing the sounds and Minhyun regarded them with a smile accompanied by a subtle bow of his head.

 

"Good evening everyone," Minhyun said to the microphone.

 

Even more heads turned to find out about this mysterious voice talking from atop the stage. Some of the faces lit up in acknowledgement upon laying their eyes on the café's resident singer. The café had many regulars, after all.

 

"How are you tonight?" the tall singer started, "Has anything changed since the war stopped? I hope your loved ones have returned safely."

 

There was unadulterated bitterness and hatred in the way Minhyun spoke and Jaehwan could hear it very clearly. The younger felt it too, in his heart.

 

"Let me tell you a short story before I begin my performance for tonight, yeah?" the words were out of Minhyun's mouth as he thought that nobody would listen anyway, but he needed to let his heart out.

 

"I guess the war changed everything yet nothing at the same time. Kim Jonghyun went to the war as the commander of the frontliners. It's been exactly one hundred and fifty years ever since he left. There's an obvious big glaring hole in the space where he used to be, but my feelings remain unchanged." the tall male took a deep breath and closed his eyes for four seconds before opening them back.

 

In Minhyun's stead, Jaehwan took a look around to examine the faces of people. Minhyun was about half right when he thought that nobody would listen, because Jaehwan could see some of the customers still minding their own business or daydreaming. But other than that, he could see pity from most of the ones who listened. A really small amount of them even smiled sadly because they knew Kim Jonghyun too.

 

"The first song I'm going to sing tonight is called _Daybreak_." Minhyun smiled. "Jonghyun made this song with me some hundred years back."

 

A soft instrumental sound flowed out from the speakers behind Minhyun. The singer waited for one bar before starting to sing.

 

 _From the moon, To the stars_  
_While lingering in the universe_  
_We got to know each other_  
_We slide on the paint_  
_that spread while_  
_drawing, drawing_

 

Jonghyun had made the song together with Minhyun, having each other in mind back then. The former loved to think that it was such a carefully thought out plan of the Gods. The Gods had written it in stone (or the stars, or both) that the two were meant to meet each other; that they were on the same planet out of the gazillion planets in the multiverse; that when one day their eyes fell upon each other, it just clicked that they were a part of a bigger plan—that maybe, just maybe they were meant for each other until eternity do them part. Minhyun was holding onto that thought of Jonghyun's even until now.

 

 _The air of dawn that I’m alone feels weird_  
_I can’t fall asleep_  
_My heart towards to you grew big at some point_  
_I can’t hide it anymore_

 

It's kind of funny that the lyrics clicked more after Jonghyun was gone. The years didn't have the power to burn out Minhyun's love. If anything, the past years had only made Minhyun a lot stronger. He's waiting, no matter what anyone said.

 

 _The moonlight that fully_  
_Shines the empty room (moonlight)_  
_It’s disappearing like a dream (out of my life)_  
_I draw one more time_  
_On a white canvas_  
_I trust that I’m not alone_

 

Minhyun was never alone. He had his friends to keep him company every so often. Alongside Minki, Dongho, and Aron, there were a few others. Sometimes on Mondays or Tuesdays, Minhyun would open his front door to a sheepish looking Daniel scratching his head before saying something about taking him out as an errand given by Minki (they'd end up on an ice rink on winters or a theme park on summers) and at the end of the day Minhyun would be left breathless from laughing and grinning too much. Every June when Jisung's back from his work at the mining site in Ceres, he would stay at Minhyun's and it would be a nice escape for the latter. There were also Jaehwan and Sungwoon of course, showing their neverending support and love for Minhyun whenever he's at the café. He was always loved and he's grateful.

 

 _From the moon, To the stars_  
_While lingering in the universe_  
_We got to know each other_  
_We slide on the paint_  
_that spread while_  
_drawing, drawing_

 

The next part was designated to Jonghyun and in the days prior Minhyun had loved leaving it blank to think that Jonghyun would still fill it with his warm deep voice, in which of course he never did. Today though, in Jonghyun's stead, Minhyun had decided that he would fill it with his version.

 

 _On a dark night_  
_I look at the moon that’s like your eyes_  
_How was your day,_  
_I worry, you don’t look good yeah_  
_Don’t try to hard that’s right_  
_You can act like a child I’ll hold you_  
_On the last line of your diary_  
_I’ll always be there_

 

The lyrics sounded a lot like Jonghyun trying to comfort him from far away. He felt better after singing it to himself and the entire café.

 

 _Between the curtain that shakes_  
_Because of the wind, yellow light finds us_  
_Think of us smiling_  
_Facing the days that will shine_  
_The night sky where the stars are asleep_  
_moonlight (moonlight)_  
_It’s disappearing like the wind_  
_But I draw it again on white canvas_  
_It has to be you_

 

Out of all the uncertain things that Minhyun faced in life, Jonghyun just seemed to stay unflinching at the top list of what Minhyun thought were certain. The sun would one day rise upon a time where Minhyun would finally wake up to Jonghyun's smiling face once again. Minhyun was a fierce believer.

 

 _From the moon, To the stars_  
_While lingering in the universe_  
_We got to know each other_  
_We slide on the paint_  
_that spread while_  
_drawing, drawing_

 

 _Tonight with you_  
_I want to fly in my dreams_  
_Tonight come to me_  
_before the morning comes_

It sounded just like his past days with no Jonghyun in sight. He had dreamed thousands of times (almost literally) about having Jonghyun back. Everything would feel too real, from the way Jonghyun laughed to the way he held Minhyun in his arms just right. At the end of every dream, there would come a recurring question from Minhyun that sounded like different versions of _"Promise me you'll stay?"_ When morning came and light shone upon his lonely room, Jonghyun's existence would crumble to dust every single time before he managed to utter a single answer aside from a reassuring smile, a silent promise that he would be back in Minhyun's reality. 

 

 _From the moon, To the stars_  
_While lingering in the universe_  
_We got to know each other_  
_We slide on the paint_  
_that spread_  
_while drawing, drawing_

Minhyun finished the song with a short drawl of the last word. He smiled politely and bowed to the café, voicing a heartfelt "thank you" to the microphone and earning some claps from a few customers. He was feeling a little dazed despite having done this thing a million times over at the exact same place he'd always done it before. Maybe it was the effect of that day being exactly a hundred and fifty years of Jonghyun being out there doing Gods know what. Maybe it was Minhyun's resolve slowly faltering after a brief acknowledgement that it had been one hundred and fifty years. _For Gods' sake, Minhyun, it'd been one hundred and fifty years, how much longer are you going to wait?_

 

At that question asked by his still lasting logic, Minhyun closed his eyes and whispered to himself, almost to his horror, _"'Till eternity do us part."_

 

"Thank you for listening," Minhyun said, "I will sing a couple more songs. If you have any request, please don't hesitate to tell me directly or via the kind waiters."

 

Jaehwan threw Minhyun a smile from behind the counter where he was standing, even though the latter might not have noticed it. Said singer did notice, however, when a little girl came bouncing her steps toward the stage. Upon her stopping in front of the stage and standing on her tiptoes, Minhyun kneeled and smiled his (hopefully) most radiant smile he could muster.

 

In a really sweet voice, Minhyun asked, "What is it, little princess?"

 

Smiling bashfully at what Minhyun called her, she mumbled incoherently.

 

Minhyun put on a confused face. "What is it? I can't hear you clearly."

 

She huffed, scratched her head a little, and took a deep breath.

 

"I said, I heard you singing from my table over there." she waved her little hand at the general direction of where she had come from. "I asked my mommy how long one hundred and fifty years is and she said that it's long enough for me to master every single branch of the medical department. I think that's a lot of time, I might be able to buy ice cream with my own money by then."

 

Minhyun smiled wider if it was possible. "Yes, princess, it is quite a long time."

 

"Why are you waiting?" the little girl asked with genuine curiosity.

 

That was a question Minhyun would know the answer to all along (and it's surprisingly simple). "Because I love him."

 

"Love? Like how I love my mommy?"

 

Minhyun nodded.

 

"Is he your mommy?"

 

Minhyun giggled. "No, he isn't."

 

She frowned. "Then is he like... how my daddy is to my mommy? Like if he's like daddy then you're like mommy?"

 

That was a wonderful thought that Minhyun would love, but, "No, he isn't."

 

"Then what is it like?" she had grown more confused by the second.

 

"He is like a friend," Minhyun answered promptly.

 

"A friend?" she repeated.

 

Yes, that was the closest thing he could ever describe a certain Kim Jonghyun with considering their current circumstances.

 

_"Don't wait for me, I might not come back."_

 

_"The hell you might. I will drag your ass back here myself if you're not back in fifty years."_

 

_"Don't be ridiculous, I'm being serious here."_

 

_"No. You win that damn war and you come back here as soon as you do."_

 

_"It's not that simple."_

 

Of course it wasn't. Nobody could downplay something as grave as an intergalactical war.

 

_"Minhyun, I'm letting you go."_

 

It was their breakup. Those words still hurt like hell whenever he's reminded of it, but he knew what Jonghyun meant by that was _"I'm letting you decide whether you're waiting for me or not."_ and an unspoken _"I hope you're not."_ by his ever selfless heart accompanied with an equally unspoken _"I would like you to."_ that the deepest part of his heart so wanted to scream. After a few other explanations uttered by the older, Minhyun was certain about what Jonghyun meant. So Minhyun stubbornly never let Jonghyun go even after he left. They were still _friends_. Minhyun never stopped waiting.

 

"Whatever." the little girl shrugged. "I just hope that I can meet your Mr. Kim Jonghyun one day, he sounds like a fun person."

 

"Certainly." Minhyun almost wanted to promise, but was he going to meet the man again himself?

 

"I hope he will be back soon! Mommy said the war is a horrible thing, I don't like horrible things, like the monster under my bed," she said, her eyes gleaming and lips on a full smile.

 

"Thank you, princess, you are the kindest." Minhyun stood up and curtsied, elliciting a giggle from the little girl.

 

"You're not supposed to do curtsies, Mr. Prince, just take a bow." she did what she said, showing an example. "Anyways, I have to go."

 

"I'll see you later." Minhyun waved as the little girl nodded and skipped to where she had come from earlier.

 

Jaehwan was amused at how Minhyun could lose track on his daily duty as the singer just because a little girl had decided that he was worthy enough of her attention.

 

"Now, back to before. Oh, I think we have a request from one Mr. Yoo. Certainly, I will sing _The Truth Untold_ as you wish."

 

The evening went by just as usual, as expected. Nothing had changed, not since one hundred and fifty years ago. Maybe the fact that Minhyun and everyone else had aged a little, but other than that, not much else.

 

Minhyun would sing a couple few songs, just as he promised. He would take a break sometimes in-between and he would have emptied a whole bottle of water after his shift ended. Thanking the whole staff that were working during his shift was a must, so that would be next. After that, he would chat up Jaehwan a little for small talks before bidding his goodbye for the day. Finally, he would wrap up his activities in the café by going through the front door the way he usually would and head home from there.

 

Nothing was out of the ordinary, even until he walked across his lawn and cursed to himself for forgetting to get more stardust for his lamp, even until he just shrugged and decided against going back out to get it today, even until he took out his keys to unlock the door and went in, even until he decided that he wasn't in the mood for dinner and just took a shower, even until he laid on the bed with a thin layer of blanket protecting him from the cold. Nothing was out of the ordinary even until his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep.

 

_"You're such a sleepyhead," Minhyun heard from where he was still closing his eyes on the bed._

 

_It sounded a lot like his Jonghyun, though he didn't know whether his brain's depiction of the man were still the same as how it used to be a hundred and fifty years back. His brain might have altered Jonghyun's appearance in ways more than one without him knowing. But he was certain that it was how Jonghyun would sound were he still around to throw cheap jokes and whisper sweet nothings against his ear._

 

_"It's still early," Minhyun voiced without daring to look up, afraid if he did, the older would disappear right into the void just the way it'd happened a lot of times._

 

_"It is, but you need to wake up."_

 

_Minhyun heard footsteps approaching him from the direction of the door and some shuffling before the bed shifted, indicating that someone else was there on the bed with him. Namely, a Kim Jonghyun._

 

_The taller groaned. "Why? Isn't it Saturday?"_

 

_Jonghyun seemed to chuckle before stroking Minhyun's hair in a loving way. Minhyun wanted to cry from the longing that he felt in his chest, he was bursting with happiness he could barely contain it. It was probably just a dream, but it would need to suffice for now._

 

_"Don't you want to see me?" Jonghyun queried._

 

_"I've seen you plenty of times in my dreams and you're no different," Minhyun said, still refusing to look up._

 

_"But I'm waiting for you."_

 

_"You're literally right here."_

 

_"No, I'm over there."_

 

_"What do you mean?"_

 

_"Wake up, Hwang Minhyun."_

 

_Upon hearing Jonghyun using his full name to call him, he snapped his head upwards. To his confusion, there was no Jonghyun in sight, only his empty room and a ray of light coming through the window. The clock read six twenty three, the exact time Jonghyun left earth to nobody knew where._

 

_"Jonghyun?" Minhyun called out._

 

_"Wake up."_

 

Jolting up from his bed, Minhyun just realized that his breathing was frantic, he could feel his heart beating so fast and cold sweat were running down his face. A familiar ringing voice entered his hearing. He frowned upon hearing his phone's ringtone. The room was still dark, the clock on the wall showed that it was two in the morning. Who could be calling this early in the morning? Could it be a prank call?

 

He decided that he wanted to pick up the phone, though. When he saw the hologram floating above his phone on the bedside table, it read that the call was from an unknown number. Despite that fact, he waved his hand through the hologram to accept the call and picked up the phone from the table to hold it against his ear.

 

"Hello?" Minhyun said, unsure.

 

 _"Mr. Hwang Minhyun?"_ the person on the other end answered, _"I'm really sorry about the inconvenience of calling you this early in the morning, but this is the hospital."_

 

Minhyun's heart beat even faster, he didn't even know why. Why would the hospital call him this early in the morning? Did something happen to Minki? He knew that the kid had Minhyun's number saved as emergency contact number one.

 

"Yes, this is Hwang Minhyun. Is something the matter?" Minhyun decided to ask, his heart going uneasy by the minute.

 

 _"Are you a family of someone named Kim Jonghyun?"_ the voice asked back.

 

At this point, Minhyun's heart almost stopped. Because why would the hospital ask him something like that? Wasn't he still in outer space? Minhyun didn't even know whether the man was still alive or already burned in a star and turned into specks of stardust by his comrades. Or... was he back? Minhyun never knew that he was so scared of facing the truth when there's a possibility that Jonghyun would be back this… soon. Or not so soon anyway.

 

"Yes, I am," Minhyun said confidently albeit with a slightly shaking voice.

 

 _“Is the Kim Jonghyun that you know has dark hair, somewhat of a small body, height around five feet nine?”_ Minhyun was going to assume that the one talking on the phone was a nurse.

“Yes, that is the Kim Jonghyun I know,” Minhyun answered, his heart gradually getting more and more uneasy.

 

_"Someone found him on the side of the road, we assumed that he’s a part of the war? Did he serve and go to the war, Sir?”_

 

”Yes, yes he did.” At this point Minhyun’s hands were trembling and his eyes got sudden blurs from being… what was this feeling? Was he panicking? Was he somewhat happy? Was he worried? Of course he was worried, but also confused. His mind hadn’t quite caught up with the matters at hand yet.

 

 _“I would like to inform you that we have him in our ER_. _Our team of doctors and nurses are running a few tests and taking care of him. He has some internal injuries and he is still unconscious. However, we are able to tell you not to worry, because he will be fine.”_ The voice had sounded like the angels were singing to Minhyun.

 

“Can I… can I visit him?” Minhyun asked, unaware of the hope exuding from his now constantly trembling voice.

 

_“By any means, of course. You can come to the hospital, we will inform you when we are done with his treatments.”_

 

“Thank you so much, it means the world to me.” Immediately after saying that, Minhyun ended the phone call. His heart was now beating with a new set of determination.

 

For a few seconds, Minhyun just sat there. His brain seemed to lag from the new information it just got. What his brain didn’t fail to process were questions, so many unanswered questions. How did the hospital know his number? Why him of all people? Could Jonghyun have saved his number in his own emergency contact? Was he able to make use of earth’s technology in the war?

 

His limbs didn’t know what to do, they just laid there, frozen. He didn’t know what to do. He knew he had to get up and run to the hospital, but at the same time he wasn’t sure that he was capable of doing just that.

 

_"Don't wait for me, I might not come back."_

 

_‘I did wait and you did come back after all, huh, Kim Jonghyun?’_

 

Realizing that he remained unmoving for what felt like a few eternities, he shuffled around in a hurry to get up and change to a more decent clothing for autumn’s chilly night outside. He grabbed his coat and made sure not to forget his phone in case the kind nurse called again. Out Minhyun went with nothing else beside a phone in his pocket and an unsteady heart erratically beating for only one person.

 

The tall male figured that he wouldn’t be able to drive the hoverboard parked on his lawn with him being in this state. Avoiding a possibility of him getting into an accident, he decided that yes, he was going to run all the way to the hospital. It’s not a long walk to the hospital, it wouldn’t be a long run.

 

So he did. He ran. He ran wherever his feet were taking him because his mind couldn’t think. His mind couldn’t think and yet his mind thought up of so many questions and bad scenarios. What if Jonghyun didn’t recognize him when he woke up? What if he died in the ER? What if it was someone else entirely and not his Kim Jonghyun? He spaced out as he was running, trusting his gut feeling and muscle memory to take him to where he had to be right now.

 

_“Come on, your temp’s too high and it’s been three days, I need to take you to the hospital.”_

_“No!”_

_“Minhyun.”_

_“I said no, I want to be here with you.”_

_“What’s the difference? I’ll be with you in the hospital anyway.”_

_“I hate hospitals.”_

Not long after, he was met with a swish of air conditioner when walking through the hospital’s automatic glass doors. It took a second for his brain to register his surroundings. Information desk. Waiting chairs. A small apothecary. Only two people besides Minhyun were there. It’s the lobby. He immediately tilted his head up to look for directions to the ER. When his vision came across the directional hologram floating about the middle of the room and on the ceiling, he immediately followed the arrow pointing to the ER.

 

It didn’t take him a lot of time and only two turns to reach his destination. When he arrived, however, the lights in the ER seemed to have been turned off indicating that nobody was inside. He stared at the doors for a few seconds, the cogs in his brain whirring. It was _definitely_ too early in the morning for him to function like a decent human being.

 

Minhyun reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his phone. When he tapped on the screen twice, two notifications appeared. One was a missed call from the number that had called him before, the second one was a message from the same number. He opted to just open the message.

 

_Mr. Kim Jonghyun has finished his check up and been transferred to Room 623, you are allowed to visit him. However, he is still unconscious, please take care of him well._

 

By ‘please take care of him well’, Minhyun assumed it meant that he was supposed to not cause any ruckus, talk to him in a positive way somehow, and tell the nurse or doctor if something was up. He decided to reply.

_Thank you, I will._

 

Putting his phone back in the coat pocket, Minhyun sneaked one more glance toward the ER doors before turning on his heels to head back the way he came. He was pretty sure that he saw an elevator in the lobby earlier.

 

There it was. His mind was still working a bit after all. A button of an upwards arrow pushed, few clacks of his shoes against the floor, an echoing sound throughout the empty lobby, an elevator going up to the sixth floor, and suddenly a feeling of intense nervousness overwhelming Hwang Minhyun. Suddenly he was so scared of seeing Jonghyun.

 

_“Kim Jonghyun, I love you so much.”_

_“Whoa, what did you break this time?”_

_“What— do I have to break something to say ‘I love you’?”_

_“You said the same thing after accidentally overwriting my 100% completion save file of my favorite game last month, I have every right to be suspicious.”_

_“I said I’m sorry! And I just want you to know that I love you.”_

_“I already know that.”_

_“Then I want the whole world to know. I want every single cells in your body to know. I want every crevices of the sky to know. I want myself to know. It’s a fact that Hwang Minhyun is in love with Kim Jonghyun.”_

_“Hwang, I’m cringing so much.”_

_“You’re no fun!”_

_“I love you too, you big sap.”_

When Jonghyun opened his eyes, would he still be the same Jonghyun he knew? There was only one way to find out, wasn’t there?

 

Minhyun didn’t realize that he was already in front of Jonghyun’s designated hospital room. He thought that something was funny about the room number but he almost couldn’t put a finger as to what was so off about it. Throwing all thoughts outside the window, he slid the door open.

 

He swore his heart stopped for a second when he saw Kim Jonghyun lying on the hospital bed, sleeping peacefully with an IV connected to his left hand. His feet took a few steps closer to where Jonghyun was. He wanted to take a closer look at the object of his affection for these past few hundred years. The older looked exactly the same as the Jonghyun he bid goodbye to a hundred and fifty years ago. Some stubbles on his chin and a pair of dark circle under his eyes maybe, but seemingly not much else—or maybe a lot of other things that Minhyun failed to notice, like the visible scars and how he looked thinner but with muscles. It’s amazing how time just didn’t seem to do anything on Jonghyun (according to Minhyun) and Minhyun suddenly felt like he was the only one between them two to turn older.

 

It felt like the past years were Minhyun’s path to reaching this one goal of his. He hadn’t even realized when waiting for Jonghyun to come back became a daily routine and having Jonghyun back became one of his goals somehow. Now that Jonghyun was here, somehow for the first time in centuries he didn’t know what to do. So, he did what normal people would do. He took a chair and brought it to Jonghyun’s bedside. After that, he sat down and pulled himself with the chair closer to Jonghyun.

 

_“Why are you so fidgety today?”_

_“I, uh.”_

_“Hm? Is there something you want to say?”_

_“I— I like you, Jonghyun.”_

_“I like you too, Minhyun.”_

_“No, I mean—”_

_“I know what you mean.”_

_“Wait, you do?”_

_“I do, idiot.”_

Never in his life had he ever hesitated on Jonghyun, even the first time he confessed. Jonghyun exuded a certain aura that made Minhyun feel safe, whatever he did. For once though, Minhyun knew how to hesitate on the guy. He really wanted to hold the older’s hand, but he’s so afraid that if he did that, everything would crumble to dust the way it always would and reveal itself to be just a figment of his imagination.

 

On this occasion, Minhyun closed his eyes. An invisible force of will brought his hesitating hand to find Jonghyun’s. When they made contact, he opened his eyes.

 

He’s real.

 

The Kim Jonghyun in front of him was real and he didn’t know how to feel.

 

Naturally, Minhyun intertwined their fingers together the way he usually would. He then leaned closer to place a soft longing kiss on Jonghyun’s knuckles.

 

“Sleep tight, Jonghyun,” Minhyun whispered.

 

Gods, even saying his name sounded so weird. It’d been too long. He could remember everything but all of this just felt so weird. Jonghyun’s presence felt weird, but he still had the aura that could calm Minhyun in any situation. So when Minhyun put his head on the bed beside Jonghyun’s arm, he fell asleep.

 

_“Minhyun, I got accepted!”_

_“Really? I’m so happy for you! Your hard work really paid off, I’m so proud of you.”_

_“I’m too happy right now. Would you like to eat somewhere, Minhyun? My treat today.”_

_“No, I can’t accept that, I should be the one treating you to something today.”_

_“But I don’t want anything, I just want to be with you.”_

_“Such cheesy bullshit, what did the acceptance letter tell you? Did it hypnotize you or something?”_

_“Idiot, whatever.”_

_“Fine, Jonghyun, let’s just spend today at home.”_

_“I’m so happy, Minhyun.”_

_“I know.”_

One thing Minhyun remembered about happiness was that you knew you were really happy when reality was finally better than your dreams. He would go to The Edge of Nowhere to trade everything in exchange for that exact pure happiness for Jonghyun. Though he wouldn’t mind that he also got that happiness from simply holding Jonghyun’s gradually warming hand as they fell asleep against each other (on a hospital bed, no less).

 

A new definition of happiness for Minhyun was waking up to see that he was right where he fell asleep this morning. A new definition of late regret was realizing that waking up to Jonghyun’s sleeping face was something he had taken for granted back then. Now, all Minhyun wanted to do was just hold Jonghyun as close as he could and never let him go (again). Being an officer of the galaxy might’ve been Jonghyun’s dream back then, but Minhyun wished that after all that had happened, Jonghyun would just stick to office work in the precinct no matter how boring it would be.

 

Noon came as fast as blinking an eye to Minhyun. He didn’t exactly remember when he slept but he was sure that the sky was still dark when he’d closed his eyes. Now he could see the curtain drawn and it showed that the world still had a shed of light for a brighter future, one where they didn’t have to deal with extraterrestrials.

 

_“Do you know why I love you so much, Jonghyun?”_

_“Here we go again with the sap.”_

_“Hey! Will you just listen to me for a sec?”_

_“Yes, sorry, go ahead.”_

_“I think it’s because we’re soulmates.”_

_“How are you so sure?”_

_“How else can I explain this feeling in my chest? It feels like my chest wants to burst of happiness everytime I see you. Your existence suffocates me in all the best ways possible. If there exists a world where we don’t meet and fall in love, I don’t want to live in that world.”_

_“Sap.”_

_“Gods, I’m giving up.”_

_“I love you too, Minhyun.”_

 

Minhyun thought he was dreaming when he felt the hand in his grasp moving. He blinked. Twice. Thrice. Was he imagining things? He tried to clasp his hand tighter around Jonghyun’s bigger one.

 

“Jonghyun?” Minhyun called out softly.

 

No response.

 

Minhyun sighed.

 

“Jong— _oh my Gods_ , doctor!”

 

As soon as Minhyun yelled, someone from outside the room heard him and immediately called for a doctor. Minhyun’s heart was beating so fast, but his senses seemed to work in slow motion. Suddenly he didn’t want to be there when Jonghyun woke up. So, Minhyun stood up from the chair he’d been sleeping on abruptly and speedwalked towards the door. He stood leaning against the door frame with arms hugging his own torso, waiting for the doctor that was supposed to attend to Jonghyun.

 

When a doctor came towards Minhyun, he bowed a little with his head. He vaguely heard something along the lines of _“Don’t worry.”_ as the doctor walked by him and into the room.

 

“I’ll be outside,” Minhyun said in a voice he’s not sure the doctor would be able to hear.

 

He stepped outside and closed the door. Minhyun wanted to hear whatever conversation the doctor was going to initiate, but he didn’t want to be in the room with Jonghyun.

 

“Hello, can you hear me?” Minhyun heard the doctor asking.

 

“My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I’m the doctor in charge. May I know your name, Sir?” Yes, Minhyun was eavesdropping.

 

“Kim… Jonghyun.”

 

Minhyun’s eyes widened when he heard Jonghyun’s faint but clear voice. He covered his mouth, still not believing that it was _his_ Jonghyun despite having seen the man himself.

 

“That’s a relief.” Minhyun could almost hear the doctor’s smile from the way he spoke. “How are you feeling? Oh, please don’t move, Sir.”

 

“Lieutenant Zhou….”

 

That’s a name Minhyun knew.

 

“Pardon me, Mr. Kim?”

 

“Is… Lieutenant Zhou… here?”

 

At that moment, Minhyun already had his ear against the door. He heard the worry in Jonghyun’s voice.

 

“You were alone when we found you, Mr. Kim, I’m sorry.”

 

Silence for a few seconds. Minhyun grew a bit nervous.

 

“May I ask again, Sir, how are you feeling?”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m alright. My head is spinning a little, but that’s all.”

 

“Do you have any recollection of what happened?”

 

“I…”

 

More silence.

 

“…I do, actually. Can I not talk about it?”

 

“By all means, Sir. I’m glad that you have your memories intact. I have to check your vitals, however. Is that alright?”

 

For a few moments that felt like eternities, Minhyun heard shuffling as the doctor seemed to be checking on something. For the first time in centuries, Minhyun felt like running away. After the doctor finished his examinations, should he just step in? Should he run for it and get something for Jonghyun from the shops in the first floor before showing up to Jonghyun’s room? Flowers or fruits, maybe? If he did go in, what should he say? _“Hey buddy, long time no see”_? Minhyun cringed.

 

“Your vitals are still a bit unstable, Mr. Kim. You might have to stay here for a few days.” Minhyun finally heard again after a long while.

 

“It’s alright, thank you.” Minhyun could _almost_ hear a tinge of polite smile in Jonghyun’s still weak voice.

 

“My thanks to you too, Sir. Do you have any questions before I go?”

 

“I do, actually.”

 

“Go on.”

 

“This is Earth, right?”

 

“It is, welcome back.”

 

“What year is it?”

 

“Four thousand nine hundred and thirty seven. Also, it’s October 19th and it’s a Saturday.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Is that all?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then I’ll get going. Get some more rest, Mr. Kim.”

 

In a hurried manner, Minhyun stepped away from the door and rested his back against the wall beside it. The doctor opened the door at that time and stepped outside, bowed a little to Minhyun (in which Minhyun bowed back), and walked to the other side of the hospital.

 

Now that the doctor was gone, Minhyun had to decide what to do. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He had always been waiting for Jonghyun, but when the said man was right in front of him, he’s not sure whether he wanted to meet him or not. Maybe he’s worried of expecting too much? That everything was going to go back exactly the way it had been? Minhyun wasn’t stupid. He knew how time changed people and what Jonghyun had gone through wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

 

_“Minhyun?”_

_“Yes?”_

_“I love you.”_

 

After three moments of contemplating whether he should get in or not, he decided that _‘Oh fuck it,’_ and slid the door open to reveal Jonghyun’s body facing the other way. Was he falling into another slumber? Minhyun wouldn’t blame him, the older’s probably really really tired.

 

Minhyun went back to his seat beside Jonghyun’s bed and sat there. He stared and stared at Jonghyun’s back. He stared at how Jonghyun was breathing softly. He stared at the back that he used to hug back then when they were trying to fall asleep together, their breaths falling into a familiar rhythm.

 

One minute passed and Minhyun realized that he just heard Jonghyun sighing. With that in mind, Minhyun also realized that Jonghyun had been awake the whole time and his own breathing suddenly paced up.

 

“Is there anything else I can help with, doc?” Jonghyun asked, still facing the other way.

 

This whole minute Jonghyun thought that one of the medical staff was coming to check up on him, but it was Minhyun. What was Minhyun supposed to answer? “No”? “I’m not the doctor”? He found himself unable to talk, as if something restrained himself from saying a word. He felt like Ariel out of water with a pair of legs instead of her usual sparkling green fins.

 

Jonghyun must’ve at least expected an answer if it was either a nurse or a doctor, so it was natural if he felt cautious when he didn’t receive any answer. So, a second later, Minhyun found himself face to face with Jonghyun that was fully conscious, on his best defensive stance sitting up on the bed. Minhyun’s eyes widened for the nth time that day, not because he’s caught, but because Jonghyun wasn’t supposed to sit up so abruptly like that.

 

“My Gods, Jonghyun!” Minhyun immediately stood up and held Jonghyun’s shoulders.

 

At that exact moment, Jonghyun froze. His face was wincing from a sudden pain that shot up his spine and through his head. He still tried his best with his defensive stance, though.

 

Minhyun, on the other hand, handled Jonghyun to his previous lying down position on the bed. He jolted when he felt a pair of weirdly strong hands suddenly holding his elbows.

 

“Lie down, Jonghyun,” Minhyun ordered in the softest voice he could muster.

 

Jonghyun was looking at Minhyun the whole time the latter tried to put him back to the bed. His gaze was piercing and unmoving, his eyebrows creasing, a thousand thoughts seemingly running through his mind with Minhyun put as a new information in the equation of his unfamiliar surroundings.

 

“Minhyun?” Jonghyun finally voiced out in a cracked voice.

 

Minhyun sighed and let out a soft smile. “Yes, Jonghyun?”

 

Conversing with Jonghyun—or more like calling each other’s name—was suddenly overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. It felt just like a long time ago, as simple as Jonghyun calling Minhyun to ask for a towel from the bathroom, as simple as making sure whether the other one was at home or not, as simple as the beginning of a phone call, as simple as calling their names _just because_. At the same time, this simple act hadn’t happened in over a century for them. It was too familiar yet too odd at the same time.

 

Similarly yet a bit different to what Minhyun felt, Jonghyun seemed to have felt this as some kind of Earthly magic. To Jonghyun, it felt like a daybreak, as if he had strayed too far for too long and at this moment Minhyun pulled him back to where he was supposed to be. It’s as if the universe suddenly clicked and everything was alright again. But nothing could ever be the same anymore when Jonghyun crash landed on Earth, he did realize.

 

“Oh, _Minhyun_.”

 

The taller suddenly felt himself being pulled into an embrace by Jonghyun. Minhyun froze. As weak as he was, Minhyun just acknowledged that hundreds of years at the war had made Jonghyun really strong. Jonghyun’s body might be small and he might look a little sickly, but he had a power above normal people even in this state.

 

After years of feeling Jonghyun’s hug only in his dreams, Minhyun finally got to experience it with the real one. It felt nice, like going home after a tiring day of nonstop work. The taller decided to return the hug, only to feel Jonghyun sighing against his chest, releasing a puff of air that couldn’t go through Minhyun’s layered autumn clothing.

 

Without thinking about anything, Minhyun placed a soft kiss on the crown of Jonghyun’s hair. Then, Minhyun heard sobbing. The younger almost panicked, never been faced with a situation where Jonghyun was like this. With common sense, Minhyun did what normal people would do. He tightened his hug around Jonghyun, pulling him even closer if possible, and stroke the older’s hair gently. He stayed quiet, knowing that it would be better if Jonghyun just let everything out. His clothes started to get wet with tears, but Minhyun couldn’t care less.

 

“I thought I’d lost everything,” Jonghyun whispered in-between his sobs.

 

Minhyun’s heart wrenched at Jonghyun’s voice. He really wanted to say something to Jonghyun, but he could save it for later. They had all the time in the world now.

 

“I thought… you listened to me. I thought you’d be off happy with someone else and—”

 

“Jonghyun.”

 

“The only thing keeping me alive and wanting to go back was the thought of you smiling and laughing happily, even if it’s not for me anymore. I’d wanted to see that one more time, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

 

Minhyun was torn upon hearing what Jonghyun had said. He’d wanted to cut Jonghyun off his train of thought, but the older wanted to let it out. In retrospect, Minhyun never realized that it could be this bad for Jonghyun. He was selfish. He knew that if Jonghyun ever came back, he would only have Minhyun to come back to. He never realized that Jonghyun could think about the many possibilities of Minhyun leaving him for someone else, moving on with his life, and being happy without Jonghyun’s presence. Because they both knew that Jonghyun’s return was uncertain. However, Minhyun knew that he was going to wait while Jonghyun didn’t.

 

“I’m sorry, Jonghyun, I’m so sorry,” Minhyun tried to soothe Jonghyun while swaying them slowly side to side, “It’s okay now, I’m here.”

 

“I thought I had nothing left to live for,” Jonghyun mumbled against Minhyun’s coat, making the latter all the more heartbroken.

 

“You’re okay now, Jonghyun,” Minhyun said.

 

“You waited for me,” Jonghyun chanted, as if still mesmerized about the fact.

 

“I did.” Minhyun unconsciously smiled.

 

Jonghyun lifted his head to meet Minhyun’s gaze. The latter saw how Jonghyun’s face was red and blotchy with tears still running down both of his eyes.

 

“You waited for me,” Jonghyun whispered this time.

 

Minhyun felt the need to stare deeply into Jonghyun’s eyes, thinking maybe somehow he could speak to Jonghyun’s soul and tell him that _everything will be alright, I’m here with you, I always will._

 

“I did,” Minhyun replied.

 

“I’m okay.”

 

“You’re okay.”

 

_“If you’d gone to The Edge of Nowhere, what would you wish for?”_

_“I’d wish for your happiness, Jonghyun.”_

_“Hey! As if I’m not already happy with you!”_

_“I know, but I don’t know if I can always keep making you happy like this.”_

_“Realistic sap. And what would you trade it for?”_

_“Everything.”_

_“What do you mean everything!”_

_“I mean whatever the creature that lives there asks for. If it asks for my life then so be it.”_

_“One of these days you might make me cry, Hwang Minhyun. You’re an idiot.”_

_“What about you, Jonghyun? What would you ask for?”_

_“I’d ask for the same thing.”_

_“Doesn’t that make you as much of an idiot as I am?”_

_“Then it makes us a pair.”_

_“A pair of idiots, yes.”_

It took about twenty minutes for Jonghyun to calm down and let Minhyun go. In the span of that short while of time, Minhyun had given up standing in favor of lying down on the bed beside Jonghyun. In Minhyun’s defense, he wouldn’t mind standing up if it weren’t for Jonghyun’s weight pulling him down. Sure, Jonghyun might’ve looked thinner, but it was probably because of the muscles he’d gained during the war.

 

Now they’re on the bed, lying side by side, staring at each other’s eyes, looking like they’re trying to understand just by mere gazes. It wasn’t the thing, but neither just wanted to talk. Minhyun just wanted to bask in the glory of how his long wait had paid off. Jonghyun just wanted to take a rest and think of nothing but happy thoughts for a while. They were both happy, one with tons of things running around his mind and one with a hundred and fifty Earth years worth of battle scars, but they shared the same feeling of happiness.

 

By the look on Jonghyun’s face, it seemed that he just remembered to say something. Minhyun raised an eyebrow.

 

“Jieqiong said hi,” Jonghyun said nonchalantly, as if he was just home from work and his coworker asked him to say hi to his lover (it was entirely true, but not that casual).

 

“Can I say hi back to her?” Minhyun asked after hesitating and contemplating on what to say.

 

Jonghyun sighed and shook his head, causing the pillow below his head to ruffle his hair a little.

 

“I’m sorry,” Minhyun said.

 

“I might be the last one of my squadron to be back here,” Jonghyun mumbled, “and it’s all my fault.”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Minhyun tried to calm him.

 

“It is,” Jonghyun said, voice sharp and hardened.

 

“How can it be your fault?” Minhyun queried, knowing that Jonghyun would take all the blame if it were any other discussions.

 

“We were ambushed.” Jonghyun sighed. “We set up camp that night, I was out with Jieqiong and Youngmin to spy on the enemy. When we came back, we saw that the camp was ambushed. Not a trace of life remained. That night I realized that what we were facing was more of a nightmare than just a normal enemy.”

 

Minhyun just stared, somewhere in-between he’d found Jonghyun’s hand and now he could rub some soothing circles on the older’s palm. _It’s okay, Jonghyun, you’re okay now._

 

“We lost Youngmin during our detour through their prison cells. He might’ve regrouped with the other squadron, but I wouldn’t know,” Jonghyun explained without Minhyun asking him to.

 

“And Jieqiong…,” Jonghyun trailed off, his eyes suddenly empty as if some kind of realization dawned upon him.

 

_“If anything happens, I’m making sure you’ll be able to go home, General!” Jieqiong practically yelled at Jonghyun while trying to fend off the Alcentides._

_They were on their ship, ready to go home, away from this war that had taken away almost everything from them. The captain had ordered for everyone to retreat, because he was going to face the leader one on one. This didn’t mean that they were safe from the enemy troops, however, as they were faced with those creatures once again._

_“No, Lieutenant Zhou! We’re going back together, remember?” Jonghyun yelled back desperately._

_Jieqiong had managed to kick the enemies back and lock the door to that one hallway. She immediately punched in a few combinations on the panel beside the door, making sure that none of the Alcentides in the other room were going to live after. Then, they made a run for the control room._

_“No, General, remember that time at The Edge of Nowhere?” Jieqiong smiled in the middle of running with Jonghyun through the halls of the spaceship, looking back once in a while to make sure that something was keeping the Alcentides from following them._

_Jonghyun shook his head because this was no time to talk about those happier times of the war._

_“I didn’t tell you what my wish was. My wish was for you to go back home to Minhyun.” Jieqiong smiled sadly. “And Larnete said that we didn’t have to pay her anything for our wishes, right? She just said to wait for everything to unfold.”_

_At that moment another troop of Alcentides barged in from one of the doors. Jonghyun’s mind was swirling with a thousand thoughts, Jieqiong being one of them. They looked at each other before Jieqiong pushed Jonghyun out of the way._

_“You go to the escape pod, General,” Jieqiong ordered._

_“I command you to follow me, Lieutenant!” Jonghyun yelled, almost mad at how the universe seemed to be playing with his fate._

_“This is my last wish, Jonghyun!” Jieqiong stared Jonghyun directly in the eye before throwing a spear directly through one of the Alcentides’ bionic heart._

_Jonghyun was stunned at how his subordinate called him by his name. At this point it would make sense that they’d known each other enough to go with first name basis. For the sake of the war, they hadn’t been doing that, however._

_“I can’t leave you alone.” At that moment Jonghyun just felt defeated._

_“I’ll go after you. I just have to make sure that you’re safe first and foremost. We have more than one escape pods in this ship. Hurry up!”_

_“Jieqiong—”_

_“And tell Minhyun I said hi.”_

_Then, Jonghyun granted the Lieutenant’s last wish._

“She sacrificed herself so I could meet you,” Jonghyun whispered, “She said she would go after me, so I hope she’s alive somewhere on Earth.”

 

“It’s not your fault, Jonghyun,” Minhyun repeated.

 

Jonghyun just stared at Minhyun, knowing that Minhyun understood how Jonghyun could convey everything through gazes. Kim Jonghyun’s gazes were like the constellations. If you were an expert, you’d know where to sail without getting lost in the middle of the storm in the seas just by looking up. If Minhyun still understood clearly, he’s an expert in interpreting Jonghyun’s gazes. He just had to try not to lose himself in Jonghyun’s eyes.

 

_“Why do you love me, Minhyun?”_

_“Why are you suddenly asking?”_

_“I just want to know.”_

_“Hmm… Let’s see….”_

_“Is it because a lack of choices?”_

_“That might be it.”_

_“Minhyun!”_

_“Kidding! Gods, please stop taking me seriously.”_

_“Then tell me.”_

_“It’s because I don’t have any reason not to be in love with you.”_

_“Nice one, you’re not getting away with that.”_

_“Jonghyun, seriously? Would you like me to state every single thing that made me fall in love with you? Fine. First, it’s because you’re Kim Jonghyun. Second, it’s because I’m mesmerized by your damn beautiful laugh and smile. Third, it’s because you’re just— you. You never try to be anybody else when everyone is wearing some damn mask to hide who they really are. You’re always there whether I’m sad and in need of your silent company or happy and in need of your usual loud self. I just— I can’t imagine how my life would be like without you. You’re all the Halloween candies I love as a kid and you’re all the first snow around the world I was so excited to meet as a toddler. You’re the sun in my mornings and the sprinkle of stars in my evenings. You’re all I could ask for in the whole world and I wouldn’t trade you for anything else— wait, are you crying?”_

_“I’m not!”_

_“Oh my Gods, you are.”_

_“Shut it, you arse.”_

_“Gods, you’re just so difficult.”_

_“Whatever!”_

_“Love you too, Jonghyun.”_

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks and here they were.

 

Jonghyun was back in his shared house with Minhyun after getting discharged from the hospital. Doctor Jeon said it was a miracle that Jonghyun had nothing but a concussion after his crash landing on Earth. It might or might not have something to do with Jieqiong’s wishes back in The Edge of Nowhere.

 

After two weeks, everything suddenly felt as if the one hundred and fifty years gap was nonexistent. Jonghyun was sleeping on the same bed as Minhyun, just like the old days. The older would walk Minhyun to the café and wait there while chatting with the other staffs or customers. Minhyun was happy to fulfill the wish of a certain little girl. Jonghyun was more than happy to meet this little princess Minhyun had been talking about. The girl was so giddy to meet Jonghyun it made Minhyun laugh.

 

Maybe not every memory of the war was still intact in Jonghyun’s head, but sometimes he had war flashbacks and Minhyun had to calm down a trembling Jonghyun. Oftentimes Jonghyun also woke up in the middle of the night with his clothes drenched in sweat and breathing uneven. Luckily, Minhyun was a light sleeper and he would always tend to Jonghyun whenever that happened, holding him close, stroking his hair, and whispering things that could calm Jonghyun down. On nights when Jonghyun couldn’t sleep, Minhyun was always beside him, ready to sing him a lullaby or two. Sometimes on the mornings when Jonghyun couldn’t find Minhyun beside him on the bed, he would panic, but then walked out to find that Minhyun was making some breakfast for the two of them.

 

It was a Sunday when Minhyun was trying to bake cookies in the kitchen. Jonghyun was sitting on the kitchen isle with glasses on, reading away on his tablet about the week’s weather forecast. Sometimes he stole a glance at Minhyun who was looking at the recipe in his phone with eyebrows creased and one arm supporting his weight against the counter.

 

“This isn’t right…,” Jonghyun heard Minhyun mumble.

 

Jonghyun smiled to himself, not restraining his mind from thinking about how he liked everything so much—how he liked Minhyun so much—that he wanted everything to stay like this forever.

 

“Minhyun,” Jonghyun called out, his tone fond.

 

“Yes, Jonghyun?” Minhyun answered, the same way he had answered back in the hospital when they first met face to face after a hundred and fifty years.

 

“Marry me, will you?” Jonghyun asked in the most nonchalant manner that one could mistake him as asking about the weather.

 

“What the fuck, Jonghyun,” was Minhyun’s sharp reply as he averted his gaze to Jonghyun.

 

“Is that a yes?” Jonghyun asked again with a smile on his face.

 

“I’m trying to bake cookies with a recipe from a webcomic and you’re asking me to marry you? Jonghyun, give me a break.” Minhyun sighed exasperatedly.

 

“Definitely a yes.” Jonghyun continued reading on his tablet.

 

Minhyun stared at the older in disbelief. He decided to take matters into his own hands.

 

“Listen here, Kim Jonghyun,” Minhyun started (and he knew that Jonghyun was listening with the way his ears were perked up like a puppy’s).

 

“You left me and asked me not to wait for you. I did, I waited. You asked for me to be happy. I am, I’m always happy with you around. You asked me to marry you just now? Jonghyun, I don’t need to be married to you to make you breakfast everyday, to take care of you during your lapses, to wake up next to you everyday, to wait for another hundred and fifty years if I have to. I don’t need to be married to you to stay with you through thick and thin, rich or poor, in sickness and in health. So if you ask me whether I want to take you as my husband or not, the answer is ‘I do’.”

 

Jonghyun was stunned at Minhyun’s words. He knew that Minhyun was a sap, because the latter had read many romance books. However, it still left him at awe whenever Minhyun accidentally or purposefully spit out sappy things like this.

 

Minhyun walked closer to Jonghyun and cupped the older’s face in his hands.

 

“I do, Kim Jonghyun, a million times I do,” Minhyun said with a smile so bright they didn’t need any more stardust for lightings.

 

Jonghyun let a tear of happiness slip through. He closed his eyes to revel in Minhyun’s presence. His scent, his breathing, his touch, everything. He wanted to hold on tight to Minhyun and never let him go again.

 

It didn’t matter to Minhyun that Jonghyun had a thousand scars across his body. To Minhyun, Jonghyun was still beautiful.

 

“Do you know what Larnete said to me when I asked for your happiness back in The Edge of Nowhere?” Jonghyun asked after opening his eyes.

 

“She’s the creature guarding The Edge, right?” Minhyun received a nod. “What did she say?”

 

“She said that it didn’t matter whoever you’re happy with while I’m gone, in the end I’ll be in charge of your happiness again anyway.”

 

Minhyun snorted. “She said that so she doesn’t have to do anything about me.”

 

Jonghyun laughed. It’d been a long time since he was last able to fully laugh like that.

 

“You know what? Maybe you’re right.”

 

And maybe they didn’t need any wish upon any Edge or any star to give each other happiness. Just spending eternity with each other, that would be enough for them.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, i created a whole au just for this one fic and i am not sorry.
> 
> if you reach the end, congratulations!!! i salute you, my friend! thank you for reading! if you ever want to be my friend, hmu [@wintercrystale](https://twitter.com/wintercrystale) at twitter uwu


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